Senators back more drones at border

In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, Senate Republicans on Thursday night joined their Democratic colleagues to pass legislation boosting border security funding by $600 million, including money for 1,500 new border personnel, a pair of unmanned drones and operating bases.

The Senate passed the Democrat-sponsored bill by unanimous consent and forwarded it to the House, which passed a similar $700 million proposal last week and could take up the Senate measure when members return for a special session next week.

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The Senate bill would not add to the deficit - a concern of many Republicans - but would be paid for by hiking fees on so-called chop shops, foreign companies that use U.S. visa programs to import cheap labor from countries like India. Firms with more than 50 percent of their employees on H-1B work visas would be affected.

"It will provide immediate relief to the border without increasing the deficit by a single nickel," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a primary sponsor, told reporters earlier Thursday. "It will make the border more secure and level the playing field for American companies and American workers to compete against these foreign companies" that abuse visas.

The legislation largely fulfills a request President Barack Obama made to Congress in June for $600 million to bolster security along the southwest border.

The bill's passage came just hours before senators head home to their districts for the summer recess. It temporarily placates Republicans, who have been calling for increased border security and trying to paint the Obama administration and Democrats as soft on illegal immigration.

Sen. John McCain, who previously introduced a similar border-security bill with Sen. Jon Kyl, praised the bill as a "significant piece of legislation" and requested that both Arizona Republicans be listed as co-sponsors. Moments earlier though, McCain's efforts to attach three amendments to the bill were rebuffed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a chief sponsor.

One of those amendments would have provided $200 million for "Operation Streamline," a Bush administration program that requires federal criminal charges for those who cross the border illegally.

"I believe we have a lot more to do but this will contribute to our effort to get our border secured," McCain said on the Senate floor. "We will continue to fight for all of the provisions Senator Kyl and I put forward."

The Senate bill includes $300 million for 1,500 additional Border Patrol agents, Custom and Border Protection officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel; $196 million for Justice Department programs; $32 million for two more drones; and other money for things like communications equipment and new facilities.

The bill the House passed last week calls for $200 million in cuts to offset costs and an additional $500 million in emergency funding, which adds to the federal deficit. The McCain-Kyl bill would have tapped into unused economic stimulus funds, which Schumer said takes money from job-creation efforts.